Upper Marlboro Man Pleads Guilty to Three Bank Robberies, Stealing a Total of More Than $164,000

Upper Marlboro Man Pleads Guilty to Three Bank Robberies, Stealing a Total of More Than $164,000

BALTIMORE, MD—Derek Lamar Tompkins, age 20, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland pleaded guilty today to bank robbery and forcing a bank employee to accompany him without the employee’s consent; and to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief Timothy Bozman of the Princess Anne Police Department; Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to Tompkins’ plea agreement, from February through August 2014, Tompkins robbed three banks, stealing a total of $164,615.05.

Specifically, on February 11, 2014, Tompkins entered the BB&T Bank in Princess Anne, Maryland, and passed the teller a note that read, “I have been watching you, I know you have $10,000 in cash. Give me the money or I will shoot you or kill you.” Fearing for her safety, the teller emptied her drawer, handing $1,539.05 to Tompkins who fled the bank.

On May 21, 2014, Tompkins and a second robber entered the M&T Bank located in Largo, Maryland. The robbers went to the victim employee’s office and demanded money and told her that they had a weapon. After the victim told them that she did not have any money, they ordered her to open the door to the teller line. Tompkins and the other robber demanded money from two victim tellers, and ordered them to open a small safe. Tompkins and the second robber took approximately $84,120, and fled the bank.

On August 18, 2014, Tompkins and a second robber entered the First Mariner Bank in Owings Mills, Maryland, wearing masks and hoods. Tompkins was wielding a 9 mm handgun, which he and the second robber passed brandished as they passed the gun back and forth between them. The robbers ordered the tellers to open their drawers, and Tompkins ordered one of the employees, at gun point, to get the key and move to the area where the vault was located. Once at the vault, Tompkins ordered her to open the vault and then he removed cash from the vault. Tompkins and the second robber then ordered the bank employees into the vault and closed the door. The robbers fled the bank in two separate vehicles with $78,956 of the bank’s money.

Police in the area were able to identify and stop the vehicle Tompkins had fled in on August 18. From the vehicle, officers located a large amount of cash (with First Mariner straps), the 9 mm handgun used during the robbery, as well as clothes, a pair of gloves, a mask, and two hooded sweatshirts, all of which matched the description of the items worn during the armed bank robbery. After being advised of his rights, Tompkins admitted that he participated in the armed robbery of the First Mariner, that he had entered with the handgun, and that he was the one who had entered the vault with the victim employee to get the money.

A subsequent trace of the 9 mm handgun showed that it had been stolen from an off duty Metropolitan (DC) Police Officer in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2014.

Tompkins faces a minimum sentence of 17 years in prison, and up to life in prison for forcing the employee to accompany him during the bank robbery and for brandishing a firearm during the robbery. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for February 16, 2016 at 11:00 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Princess Anne Police Department, Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok and Aaron S. J. Zelinsky, who are prosecuting the case.